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Ball juggling
Balls are roughly spherical objects, usually small enough that several can be held in one hand at a time. They are the most common prop used for toss juggling and bounce juggling, and they are the prop that most people learn to juggle first. Most jugglers consider balls to be easier to juggle than rings or clubs. Beanbags are the most common type of juggling ball, and are preferred by many jugglers, especially numbers jugglers. The highest number of balls that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 10 for both toss juggling and bounce juggling, and the highest number of balls that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 13 for toss juggling (by Alex Barron) and 12 for bounce juggling (by Alan Sulc). 3 balls thumb|left|400px|3 ball tricks by Murakami The 3 ball cascade is usually the first juggling pattern a juggler learns. Some tricks (such as upside-down juggling and blind overhead throws) are only done with 3 balls because the speed or accuracy required makes them practically impossible to do with 4 or more. Other tricks (such as a shower under a shower under a shower under a shower) can only be done with more than 3 objects. Most high-level technical jugglers mainly focus on juggling 5 or more balls, but there are some jugglers (including Murakami, Chris Hodge, and Falco Scheffler) who can do very difficult 3 ball tricks and routines. The IJA had its first 3 ball performance competition in 2004 (winner: Ivan Pecel), and the WJF had its first 3 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Michael Falcov). The world record for 3 ball endurance is 12 hours and 5 minutes by David Slick. 4 balls thumb|left|400px|4 ball tricks by Murakami 4 balls are most commonly juggled in a fountain pattern (2 balls in each hand). The wimpy pattern is more difficult for beginning 4 ball jugglers because the ball collide easily, but since crossing throws are generally easier than non-crossing throws, the wimpy pattern is easier than the fountain for higher numbers. High-level 3 ball jugglers can often also do difficult tricks with 4 balls. The WJF intermediate ball competition allowed a minimum of 4 balls until 2010, when the format for that competition was changed to allow only 5 ball juggling. The WJF had its first 4 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Jack Denger). The 4 ball endurance world record is 2 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds by Zdeněk Bradáč. 5 balls thumb|left|400px|5 ball competition routines at WJF 6 The basic pattern for 5 ball juggling is a higher (and/or faster) version of the 3 ball cascade. Most of the best jugglers are good at 5 ball tricks whether they specialise in higher numbers or lower numbers of balls. 5 is the minimum number of balls used in the competitions in the WJF overall championship. 5 balls was originally the minimum for the advanced ball short program; since 2010 that competition is for 5 balls only. The other 5 ball competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competion; held since 2006) and 360s (most 5up 360s in 1 minute; discontinued for balls and rings after 2008). The WJF also has an intermediate level 5 ball short program. The unofficial world record for 5 balls (not validated by JISCON or Guinness; no publicly available video?) is 3 hours and 47 minutes by Thomas Dietz. 6 balls thumb|left|400px|6 ball sequence by Thomas Dietz A lot of jugglers don't spend much time working on 6 balls, because it's too high a number to be of much interest to low-number specialists, and too low a number to be of much interest to numbers jugglers, and numbers jugglers generally prefer to work on cascades more than fountains. The WJF overall championship has included a 6 ball freestyle competition since 2006. Thomas Dietz won this competition every year until he retired from competition in 2008; after that Doug Sayers has won it each year. The unofficial 6 ball world record (not validated by JISCON or Guinness; no publicly available video?) is 24 minutes by Thomas Dietz. 7 balls thumb|left|400px|7 ball tricks by David Ferman 7 is often the highest number of balls used in a performance. The WJF overall championship has two competitions for 7 balls: freestyle (held since 2004), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2006, part of the overall championship since 2007). The world record for 7 ball juggling is 11 minutes and 37 seconds by Anthony Gatto. 8 balls thumb|left|400px|8 ball 8 up 360 by David Ferman The IJA has had 8 ball endurance competitions since 1984. 8 is now the minimum number of balls used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition. 8 balls was the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2010. Since 2011 the WJF ball endurance competition has started with 9 balls. The 8 ball juggling world record is 1 minute and 13 seconds by Anthony Gatto. 9 balls thumb|left|400px|9 ball 7 up 360 to a collect by David Ferman 9 is the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and is the highest number of balls that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The world record for 9 balls is 54 seconds by Anthony Gatto. Tricks that have been done with 9 balls include: *Stacks (qualified) *Halfshower (flashed) *(ax,8)* (flashed) *7 up 360 (not qualified) *5 overhead throws (to collect) *1 back cross (to collect) 10 balls thumb|left|400px|10 ball world record by David Ferman 11 balls thumb|left|400px|11 ball world record by Alex Barron 12 balls thumb|left|400px|12 ball world record by Alex Barron 13 balls thumb|400px|left|13 ball flash by Alex Barron